Impresiile voluntarilor din cadrul proiectului Building Solidaity - Giacomo

Experiențele noi ne provoacă, ne aduc multe bucurii, prietenii și lecții de viață. În perioada septembrie 2019 - iulie 2020, 7 tineri entuziaști din țară și străinătate au făcut parte din echipa Green School, în cadrul proiectului Building Solidarity, un proiect finanțat de Corpul European de Solidaritate și implementat de Green School și Centrul de Voluntariat Cluj-Napoca.

Giacomo este din Italia și i-a plăcut mult să învețe limba română:

1. What did you do in your ESC project?
During my ESC project I was preparing activities for public schools while learning and observing at a private school specialized in non-formal education. Amongst my tasks I had to follow a dissemination plan to inform the local community about what we were doing in my project. In addition to this I got some occasional tasks from my organization, like my personal project.

2. What motivated you to do an ESC project?
Mostly the people that shared their experience and talked about this opportunity. I was also searching for a volunteering experience outside of my country that would give me the chance to grow through adapting myself before starting my studies. 

3. Why did you choose this specific project?
I was interested in living in a country in eastern Europe and working with children, so when I found out about this option I immediately thought it would be a right project that would fit at least some of my expectations. I previously found my volunteering experience with young teenagers very instructive and wanted to learn more about non-formal education. The topics our activities were based on seemed interesting, too.

4. What did you learn?
How to share a house with other flatmates, how to relate and interact better with children, how to invent new activities and adapt them for different schools, how to communicate formally with people in an office, how to manage my first monthly income alone, how to travel efficiently through Romania… The list goes on.

5. What was your biggest challenge and what did you enjoy most during your project?
The biggest challenge I faced was when I had to deal with low motivation during the coronavirus pandemic, since most of our activities were suspended. Seeing other people of my hosting organisation being so motivated and trying their best to maintain my project alive helped me a lot.
I enjoyed the time I spent with my fellow volunteers, my travels here in Romania and the moments of happiness with the kids, when everybody was smiling.
     
6. What would you tell someone who is about to do an ESC project, wherever that is?
Good luck and prepare yourself for a wonderful experience. You can find a lot of satisfaction and results in something that you did not expect before arriving. Spend time to search for a project you really like, and don’t choose it just for the location. You can inform yourself by searching more about your future organisation from previous volunteers.